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tv   MONEY With Melissa Francis  FOX Business  March 19, 2013 5:00pm-6:00pm EDT

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can. david: "off the desk", over to disney world where we're actually turning away. starting saturday, children under 14 have to be accompanied by someone older if they want to enter a disney park in the u.s. currently there is no age restriction. spokesman said the move was in the triggered by a particular incident and meant to bring a consistent age policy across the domestic parks. lauren: number one thing to watch tomorrow will be the federal reserve policy statement that comes at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. half an hour after that federal reserve chairman ben bernanke's news conference. investors will be listening very closely for any clues that the money printing program by the fed may slow down earlier than expected. david: indeed. it will move the markets. we guaranty that. that's why because of the fed decision we're going to focus on the fed tomorrow on "after the bell." look at this. we have an insider's perspective from wayne angell. y'all know wayne angell,
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former federal reserve governor. he is blunt, he is specific and to the point. one of ben bernanke's biggest critics, former congressman ron paul! he will be here tomorrow. telling us why it is the fed's actions and not budget battles that really matter to your money. lauren: "money" with melissa francis. that's next. melissa: i'm melissa francis and here's what's money tonight. cyprus's parliament shoots down the e.u. bailout so the real across for global markets may be just beginning t could be music to russia's ears? a former top imf official joins to us explain. plus, t. boone pickens said natural gas would revolutionize transportation. every called him a madman but now he is having the last laugh. we'll get his prediction where natural gas prices are headed next. not even a down economy can crush rock and roll. legendary kiss rockers gene simmons and paul stanley kick off a big expan shun of their restaurants. they're here in first on fox
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interview to tell us why now is the time to bet on the consumer. even when they say it's not it is always about money melissa: first let's turn to today's market moment. fears over cyprus's bailout led to a choppy day of trading on wall street. the dow managed to eke out a slight gain with the nasdaq and s&p 500 posting minor laws. the s&p fell for the third straight session. that is the worst losing streak of the year. microsoft could be in some hot water with the justice department. microsoft and some of its business partners are being investigated over a foreign bribery claims. government officials in china, italy and romania were allegedly bribed to earn software contracts but shares of microsoft still managed to close the day up slightly. all right we start tonight in cyprus. the parliament rejected the tax on bank deposits, potentially killing the
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bailout but russia is floating another option, gazprom, which is russia's state-owned oil company, is reportedly offering exploration rights to the island's rich natural gas fields. here to break it down the former im fsec tiff board member and current visiting fellow at the peterson institute for international economics. doug, welcome to the show. >> thanks. melissa: is there a danger to letting russia really get its hooks in cyprus like that? should we be worried about that? >> absolutely. i mean russia already has its hooks, as you put it, in cyprus because the cypriot economy is largely based, if not almost exclusively based on its status as an offshore banking haven and that has been largely at the behest of russian money. now that's an overstatement to some degree but the russians play inordinant influenced role in the cypriot economy. the question i think you're asking is, do we let them take it one step further and
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whether it is through gazprom or other means of russia's influence, let them sort of solidify their influence and take real ownership of the economy in a way that even leaps and bound ahead of where it is right now? and that is a really big strategic question. melissa: it is not an exaggeration to say they have their hooks in the financial system for sure because the deposits in cyprus are eight times the nation's gdp. 40% of those deposits come from outside the country. the vast majority of those are russian. to the russians it made a really big deal if deposits were to be seized. and that is their money. they said they we will come in to restructure banks and give you bailout money. in exchange to we want even more control and rights to offshore drilling and them setting up shop in the military base and naval base there. who does that threaten and why should we be worried about that? >> well, i think you have to break it down and think what is likely to be the tripwire
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beyond which whether it is western europe, the u.s. or others say, all right, enough is enough? i think the idea of the russians getting a military presence is probably a bridge too far under any scenario. so i would really count that out. the idea of the russians taking an ownership stake in some of the fragile banks is something actually on the table. it is pretty dangerous. melissa: yeah. >> it is dangerous of course cyprus is a member of the european union. it is a member of the eurozone so to allow russian banks to have that foothold within the eurozone and the european union i'm not suggesting that is inherently bad but it is certainly a step of influence that a lot of people would say, may not be healthy for the global financial system and certainly not for the european financial system. of course by extension to the u.s. financial system. it is a difficult and delicate task. the second point that you raised again is the natural gas fields. do we really think it is a good thing for russian companies like gazprom which
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are arguably highly political companies, to actually take ownership on an interest in the gas fields that cyprus is likely to depend on for its next iteration of its economic future? again, a big question and one that we should all be, if not against, let's just say at least concerned about. melissa: focused on. at the same time, this whole situation could potentially really be a blow to the whole european economy and maybe even the global economy economic recovery because we're talking about banks haven't reopened yet. when they do, even though they haven't seized deposits, no one will feel as secure ever again in cyprus. a lot of people are questioning their deposits in places like the cayman island. wondering if the place that are financial safe havens are really that safe. do you think we see a stress on the global banking system as a result of what almost happened here? >> so it's a really good because i think that the real point of concern, certainly for the europeans
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themselves, has been whether what happens in cyprus is subject to contagion in countries like italy, spain, portugal and the lot. i think the answer to that ought to be an absolute no. cyprus as an offshore banking haven plays a unique role and the response to the crisis inside cyprus reflects that one-off nature. your question was a really good one which how it affects a other offshore banking havens that is a really good question. if you have small islands, they don't have to be islands but in this case many of them are, actually enormously dependent on their role as offshore banking havens, without a lot of other economic growth opportunities for their economies, what happens if something goes wrong? do we then say, wow, that entire economy is so wildly exposed to its role as an offshore banking haven that something bad could happen? is that fragile economy something that we ought to
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actually say, you know what? let's take a look and maybe offshore banking havens ought to rethink their model. that is not necessarily a bad thing. melissa: doug, interesting stuff to think about there. thanks for coming on. >> sure. my pleasure. melissa: so back here at home, scary new study 28% of americans have no confidence, none, that they will have enough money to retire. 57% said they have less than $25,000 in household savings. not good news as we're trying to get our economy back up and running again. we could be facing a nationwide retirement crisis. here with how to avoid it the president of american wealth management and pat boul, president and founder of the powell financial group. pat, this is a real serious problem, right? also on top of everything we just said, 28% of americans dipped into their 401(k) during this recession because they couldn't pay their bills. we have a real savings and retirement crisis brewing? >> absolutely. we're not hardwired to do this right. you know so many of us by
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doing this, doing this wrong and we look around us and see, oh this guy is getting bailed out, banks are being bailed out and they somehow think it will come together for them but it's not. tough do it yourself. you have to put things together. so few of us have pensions today. melissa: right. >> unless you're a public worker. public workers have pensions. very few private workers have pensions. melissa: we'll see how long. obviously there is a pension crisis. i don't know how save their pensions are either. what is the toll on our entire system of all this? if we have all the people that don't have savings and don't have anything to retire on, should we be worried as a country? does it mean all these people will have to go on some kind of social welfare? are we going to just work forever? what does it mean? >> you know i think it is really we're changing the landscape of what retirement means. i think that we have to change and refocus, readjust how we really plan on retiring. what does retirement look like? my father is 78. he still, he still works.
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he retired as a teacher at 65 but continues to stay active teaching at a junior college. so i think, i think retirement the old ideas of retirement are just completely different today. melissa: i think you're absolutely right. we're living so much longer. social security, you can't count on it. it is not enough to support you. home values are not what they were. people have taken equity out of their house. pat, let me ask you, if you're watching this right now and have no savings or very little and you don't have enough money to retire, you're already 40, 50 plus, what should you do? what can you do? should you just cry? >> after you're done crying then what you have to do is you have to institute change into the way you conduct your finances. if you continue to do things in the same manner you will get the same outcome. it will only get worse as time goes on. get your act together. start with a, weekly, money management meeting. if you're buy sure self, have a meeting with yourself. start to look at everything. get your budget together. look at everywhere where you're spending. there is always room for
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improvement. everyone has 10% of frittering away money in their budget. so start there. and start going forward and start saving. get real about things. if you can't afford to make ends meet, now if you don't have money in the bank now, how will you possibly going to live off social security check when you retire? melissa: leif, what advice would you give to people if they're watching right now and know they don't have enough savings? almost everybody is in that situation seems like from this article. what would you do first? >> i like, pat had some great points but i think getting educated is really critical. this generation has been lost, slip through the cracks, has not been educate along the way. i think an organization like the national endowment for financial education is a great resource to start from. i don't believe that wall street is always the best place to get educated. so there's a start, a place to start a plan. melissa: yeah. >> next thing have someone hold you accountable.
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meet with somebody. i like pat's idea, find a financial buddy. we often work out with a buddy to help us out. find a financial advisor and somebody you can work with. melissa: that makes sense. you say saving 15 to 20% of your annual income. i wonder at what price? saving aside 20% of the your income, does that mean you don't buy a house, you rent instead? would you set aside the income and use credit cards and rack up debt so you can save? at what price, how serious is it to save that much money. >> how serious is that individual, that's the question. because let's put this in reference. this individual that in our scenario, sob who is 50 to 60 years old or so, they're really at the peak of their financial success. they're making the most they ever have in life. hopefully their kids are out of the home. they don't have education expenses anymore. so do they have the capacity? absolutely. most people do in my experience. depends how focused or deliberate they want to be in establishing that goal. melissa: pat, do you agree.
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>> i absolutely do. post phone the retirement, if you're not in good shape, postpone, post pain. melissa: makes sense. that is good advice. that is your "money" question of the day. do you feel you're on track to retire? pretty much every response we said was no! good one said only the politicians will get to retire with us paying for their reirrelevant toos. that a so true. we want to hear from more of you. like usson facebook..com/melissa france fist fox. or on twitter @melissaafrancis. too. boon -- t. boone pickens was told it would not happen. skiddish economy can not slow down rock and roll legends. gene simmons and paul stan any said it is the perfect time to kick off their rock and brews restaurant chain. they're here to explain why coming up.
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melissa: experts say natural gas could ref likize the --
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revolutionize the transportation industry. they can save two buck as gallon switching from diesel to natural gas. we have no infrastructure. that is the problem. there are only 28 natural gas refueling station in the country. a chinese company is investing $50 million to build 50 more in the u.s. this year. a short time ago i spoke to boon -- boone pickens and asked him about the chinese is getting in the game. >> transportation is switching over from diesel to natural gas and the chinese want to be in on it. they're doing it in their country. they see the opportunity because, it hasn't started you've got one really big the united states. i'm a shareholder in the company. so i want you to know that. but clean energy fuels and they have done a tremendous job. they will have in conjunction with pilot flying j, who are the biggest truck stop operators
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in the united states, they will have 150 stations on the interstate by the end of this year. so, it's happening and the chinese are seeing opportunity so they're going to try to move in on it. melissa: it is definitely happening. i look at like nearly half of all the garbage troubles operate here in the u.s. run on natural gas. we are seeing a lot of fleets transferred over because of carbon emissions. especially because of the fracking boom, we are seeing so much natural gas out there. let me ask you, are you making money on this so far? i mean has it reached critical mass to the point where it is returning profits to you? >> you aren't at the level where you're making a lot of money, but for instance, clean energy fuels, they have plowed everything back into the infrastructure. so, yes, if they stopped building, they would immediately start making money but, otherwise they are putting it back in. it's the same thing for me too. i mean i believe in the fuel. it is going to happen but there are others too. you could look back at ones
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that have, are doing it. cummins is building the 12 relater engine whichhis key to what is going on -- liter. they will be in mass production this summer. companies making a transformation like at&t, fedex, that wal-mart is, is now testing the engines in some much their trucks. so everybody is looking at it for one reason, as you're saving $2 a gallon. melissa: yeah. >> and you, okay, so my competition runs on diesel. i switch to natural gas. i immediately have an advantage over my competition because my fuel bill is half of what his is. melissa: yeah. >> so it's -- it is serious. melissa: makes all kinds of sense. one of main things stands as barrier to entry and fueling stations and having actually infrastructure. costs about a million dollars to build a liquified natural gas fueling station. how does that compare to regular gas station and,
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where do we stand in terms of building out that infrastructure? >> well, don't compare it to regular gas station. because, lng will have to be fueled at truck stops. so you're really sitting next to diesel, not gasoline. so don't have the idea your exxon station two blocks down the street from your home is where you will are going to fuel these trucks. they will be fueled on the highway in truck stops. so it's, and you don't need that many stations. if you look at, across the united states 3,000 miles. you don't need, if you actually, they have got 600 mile range on the trucks. you don't need it. yeah, see or ten or 15 stations on i-ten, i-40, i-95. that will work. so this. melissa: boone will you go beyond fleets and becoming transfortation vehicles for passenger cars like the rest of us or do you think
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natural gas stays as fleet trucks and garbage trucks and fedex and long haul vehicles? >> if you're driving a car some distance every day and 100, $200 miles on a commute. it could easily go over to passenger cars. just let that happen. you don't need a subsidy. you don't need anything from the government other than the government to say, all vehicles purchased by the federal government every year, 200,000 vehicles, will be on domestic fuel. it doesn't have to be on natural gas. i'm all american. i will take anything just so it's american. what i want it do is get of of opec oil and quit paying for both sides of the war. what that's what we're doing. everybody understands. yeah. we're stupid to do that. melissa: no. and while we're putting all of our eggs in the natural gas basket let me ask you about prices there because there was an article out last week that has gotten a lot of attention talking about the sleeping giant in natural gas and predicting the price was going tox
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flowed. we've seen the price of natural gas be depressed over the past this year mainly because we've seen all the fantastic supply come online because of fracking. where do you think the price of natural gas is headed and are you worried there could be a dramatic spike that would derail these plans? >> no. i don't think, i don't think there is any prospect of that. you have hundreds of thousands of locations for natural gas to drill in the united states. when the price of natural gas gets to $5, they will put a lot of rigs back to work. four years ago we had 1600 rigs running on natural gas. today we have a little over 400. why? because the price is so cheap. when the price goes back up to $5 a lot of those rigs will go back to work drilling natural gas wells. no, if you do compare sieve basis, $100 oil, if you do it btu equivalency, it would be $16 natural gas. you are $3, you have got so
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far to go that, what unbelievable opportunity for america to get on their own resources and get off of opec oil. melissa: not only that boone. it drives the down oil price per barrel because we're depending on it a lot less. what do you think about the price of oil if we even focus more than natural gas? >> the price of oil is set by opec, no two ways about it. if the price is not high enough, they will reduce the supply is way it works. they tell you continually they have to have $100 a barrel or more to meet their social commitments. that means to pay the people in their country because, over 50% of the people in saudi arabia do not work. so it all makes sense. i don't have any problem with saudi arabia. they're an opec country of course but i don't have any problem with them how they price because they make it
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very clear to us what they have to have for their oil. it is up to us to figure out how to manage our own resources in this country. >> boone pickens, always a pleasure. such great insight. thanks so much for coming on. >> sure. thank you. melissa: he's the best. time for the fuel gauge report. natural gas futures hit their highest level since september of 2011. speaking of natural gas. new forecasts predict frigid cold in the midwest and the northeast for the rest of march. that raised expectations for natural gas demand. iran's oil production capacity has fallen nearly 20% since december of 2011. the international energy agency contributes the decline to international sanctions. the maximum iran can produce is about 3 million barrels a day. but the current out put is 2.7 million barrels. cyprus fears sparked concern about future oil demand. led to selloff in oil futures which posted the
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worst loss in nearly a month. they settled down 1% at $92.16 a barrel. coming up on "money", taxes are up economy, stalled, two. legendary rockers of all time see nothing but green. kiss's gene simmons and paul stanley roll out a big expansion of their rock and brews restaurant. they're here to tell us all about it. do you ever have too much money? we know a place whe tossing and turning have
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♪ . melissa: shout it out loud. members of the rock band kiss are betting big on business despite a slow economy. they're expanding their rock and brews restaurant with five new locations including the first international location in mexico. joining me now in a first on fox interview are legendary
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founders of kiss, gene simmons and paul stanley. thanks for coming on. gene, let me start with you, the economy is not great yet you are expanding, what gives you the confidence to do this. >> we are very blessed to be living in america. we are very blessed that america's made us comfortable and because of that, we're happy to give back and that's what rock and brews is all about. it is a family experience. we hire vets. we have local outreach. we use local craft beers. we want to make this a worldwide phenomenon. by the way it already is and we are urge all companies out there who are holding onto those trillions and trillions of dollars, come back into the marketplace. it is friendly. melissa: get out there and spend and invest. paul, let me ask you, what is your biggest concern as you start this venture out there? there is talk out there about forcing you guys to raise the minimum wage. i mean there is concerns
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over obamacare. there are a million headwind. what is your biggest concern? >> ultimately everything work the out. just a matter of when. people still have to eat and everybody should remember in the worst of times the entertainment industry never really suffers. what rock&bruce concept is, is it is basically amount restaurant experience that pays whom haj to -- homage to classic rock, atmosphere, backstage at a concert. a party atmosphere. it is family friendly. we all have kid and want to bring the kids to. it is a place to bring a date and go with friends. gene is saying we're featuring all kinds of craft beers, local craft beers included. artisan pizzas. melissa: okay. gene, sound very family friend did ily as you describe it. when i think of kiss and family friendly and kids and all those kinds of things. let me ask you what is your
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biggest concern and as you expand and try and buildout your business? there are, as i said there are some different headwinds out there. unemployment is a huge one. you're asking people to spend their disposable income. what do you think about the state of the consumer right now? >> well, first of all, rock and brews makes it very, very affordable for everybody. we have all kinds of wonderful plans for people that work with us. everybody that works with us are partners. we have a very friendly work atmosphere. we're aware, look, once upon a time you did, i did, paul did, we all washed dishes. melissa: yep. >> we came up, we came up the hard way and got to where we are because america allowed us, the great american dream and we want to give back and rock and brews is a amazing american success story. we're on the cover of franchise times. that is only happening because we have the quality. the food is extraordinary. the food is great. gluten-free pizzas. come on down.
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go to rock and brews.com. melissa: i'm going to the location in cabo you're going. i'm heading straight to cabo as soon as the show is over. gene, let me ask you, because i have to get political for a moment here. i know you voted for president obama but since been quoted saying you like your vote back or something like that. why is that? >> because politicians mean well. this across the well. politicians mean well but, business people in my estimation should be running countries, and perhaps business women. there would be less wars but certainly they pay more attention to making sure that, you know, you take in more money than you put out. it is a simple business model. we are 17 trillion almost in debt. melissa: right. >> there is no excuse for that. there should be an amendment passed. it should be, it should be against the law to be in debt, period. melissa: yeah. gene, you are a ledge --
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legendary investor, i'm not sure people know that. when you rang the bell at the new york city the dow was 1700. you side, buy, buy, buy. you said the market would two up from there. we're sitting at 14,000. what is your prediction of the dow? >> it will go up. the marketplace is not undervalued. listen to an idiot like me. if i understand and believe in america, the political pundits out there take note, the stock market is alive. it's well. it's great. europe is imploding. america is doing great. and we'll get, eventually we'll get over this big hump. you're right. i'm glad you mentioned it. rock and brews, go to rock and brews.com and you will find the best food and best booze and best experience. melissa: paul, do you agree with that assessment of market? do you feel confident in america and confident in stocks? >> absolutely. as i said ultimately everything comes around. it doesn't take a kreskin to say that market is, down
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it's going to come back up. melissa: yeah. >> here we are at 14, 4, 14, 5. that will, take care of itself. our expansion is in aggressive expansion plan for the next five years. we should see 50 restaurants in north america with something equaling that outside of america with cabo being the first. melissa: okay. >> so we always invest in ourselves. we believe in ourselves. melissa: good for you. gentlemen, thank you so much for coming on and good luck to you. >> thank you. melissa: up next on "money", an alleged chemical weapons attack hits sear yaw's second largest city. has president obama's so-called red line been crossed? we'll tell you why things may be getting a whole lot rockier in the middle east. plus, bringing free markets and choice to health care, imagine that. a revolutionary approach by some businesses may bring costs under control while you control what is being spent. "piles of money" coming up. ♪ . i'm a conservative investor.
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melissa: now to some alarming news in syria. reports of a chemical weapons attack in the country's second largest city. it confirmed this -- if confirmed it would be a real game changer and if it crosses president obama's red line and could impact of hundreds of millions of dollars of aid we give to
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syria. details are still coming in. the state department has not confirmed the allegation chemical weapons were used. we have the president and founder of the american islamic forum for democracy. always nice to have you. let me ask you, how serious is this? how big of a deal is it? >> as we've been saying for almost two years now, no conflict has been worse in the world than what is going on in syria. assad's regime will stop at nothing. i have a family in aleppo. while they're safe there are millions of aleppo and all over syria are at risk. i think this may have been a trial balloon. we talk to some of our network physicians, we were skyping, a friend of mine was skyping at the hostile that received injured. it was clear that they had injuries with probably chemical related, pupils and broncho restriction that appear to be chemical. melissa: you think it probably was the case that
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it was probably chemical weapons? >> we do believe so. it just, too many patients did not have trauma but rather had respiratory, chemical type injuries to be explainable by simply a blast trauma. so you know, what do we do now? the bottom line is is that, assad may be testing the will of the international community. he may be trying to say, there is a lot of finger-pointing going on who really did this? the assad regime is saying the rebels did this. maybe assad is trying to get america with drones or others to attack the rebels and bizarrely take his side. or he may be trying to test the will of the world to see if he gets away with this one, maybe the final solution will happen and we'll see real expansion beyond the 70, 80,000 killed to hundreds of thousands in his final solution. melissa: the president has said this is his red line. so if assad has gone past that red line, what do you think the response is from the u.s.? >> well, two days ago
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secretary kerry basically said to the u.k. and france, go ahead, arm the rebels. we'll give nonlethal aid, sort of leading from behind. i really can't predict what the obama administration mo in their policy. if they do cross it clearly we'll have to make sure these don't get mobilized. five areas have chemical weapons, depots in syria. we have to protect the our ally israel. to make sure the region doesn't degenerate. that entire region with assad completely on the side of iran and lebanon and hezbollah, this is a regional conflict that many of us have an trying to plead that will expand into the entire region, affect the economy and energy prices. melissa: let me ask you about that. what does it mean for the economy? the human toll is devastating and makes us all shudder to see the pictures. this is a show about "money". we want to make sure we discuss that. what does decivilization mean for the economies of the region?
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>> well, because you have sort of the shia-sunni axis splitting right in the middle of syria you will see the arab sunni states, the gulf states getting involved. they may find the destabilization prevents transport of oil like it used to. they jack up prices to get world attention and also because maybe they will have to as the region becomes destablized with iraq and iran involved. so at the end of the day i think you're going to see, your segment with boone pickens was so right on the money, we have to find alternative. if there is any message not only to get involved, i pray that the obama administration realizes we need a no-fly zone. we need to arm the rebels about. this is not exact science what to do there. we need to take sides. the darwin one evolution what is happening in syria, hundreds of thousands of dead. a central country with a diversity of population could have been one of the shining lights now because of the evil nature of the assad regime being destroyed before our eyes.
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melissa: doctor, thank you for coming on, thank you. >> anytime, melissa. melissa: coming up on "money", soaring health care costs slamming businesses and workers across the country but a radical new approach could put workers in control of what is spent. we'll explain that. because at the end of the day you know it, it is all about money. ♪ . ♪ ♪
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melissa: a new push for private health care options could leave you with more money in your pocket only if you put in the work. in an effort to take money they would spend on health care for employees, giving it directly to them, letting them pick their own plans based on what they need the results are surprising. most employees are choosing different plans than when the company was paying. this actually could help curb costs. to explain how it works, paul howard, senior fellow director of the medical center progress from the manhattan institute. why does this work? >> it gives employees incentive to pick out plans that save them money and plans to keep them healthy. that is simple solution for employers and employees. melissa: if you're spending your own money, you're
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careful for not overspending. one thing i worry about, people are shortsighted. we talk about how people aren't saving for retirement. it makes me think that they may not invest in the best health care plan for themselves because they just don't have the money and don't want to spend it. >> look at this way too. this money could be going into their own pocket. if they're getting 15,000 premium plan they're never using throughout the year because they're healthy. that is money is going to insurance, not to them. this gives them more risk they're willing to bear and place more money in their own pockets. melissa: the other problem, choose at beginning of the year how much health care you will need. do you know that? you don't know whether you will sick with a serious illness or need medical attention and or your kids. >> absolutely. the employer would give you amount of money you spend on your other plan. you can choose the plan, high deductible plan with savings account. put money aside for emergency. after that you will be covered 100%. you get financial protection. you get to be a little bit
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of a smarter shopper. >> after all insurance is supposed to be about. not covering every single cost so you're consuming health care for free. it is supposed to protect you against huge expenditures that would bankrupt your family. there also helps maybe control the cost of health care because people, i mean they don't order as many tests. they think twice before they spend the money if they're actually spending it. as opposed if you go to the doctor, hey i want to do a test on this, sure, it doesn't cost me. what do i care. >> when you go to dinner and order to drink and you go to wedding there is open bar? the decision changes dramatically when you're playing with house money. this gives people a stake in the system, do i really need the test and do i need the service? melissa: what is the difference between the different companies doing this with their employees? what is the difference between throwing into system like this between they're choosing and throwing them into federally sponsored or state-sponsored exchange where they're deciding? >> you will get more flexibility on private
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exchanges. employers can wrap around other services. use more supports to have people helping you make better choices. wrap homeowners insurance, dental insurance, other good disthat enhance the value of the consumer. every business makes their own decision. this gives consumers more control and more choices. melissa: paul, thanks for explaining that. good stuff. on "money", mayor bloomberg is not slowing down. he wants cigarettes to disappear from the naked eye. it may bring more legal trouble ahead. oh, we have the details. you can never have too much nanny bloomberg, right? ♪ . girl vo: i'm pretty conservative.
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very logical thinker. (laughs) i'm telling you right now, the girl back at home would absolutely not have taken a zip line in the jungle. (screams) vo: expedia helps 30 million travelers a month find what they're looking for. one traveler at a time. expedia. find yours. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online.
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♪ melissa: it is time for a little fun with "spare change." we are joined with our al all-sr team. all right, we're beginning march madness, so in case you have trouble making your picks for the tournament, university of cincinnati offers of course a bracket-ology.
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what can you possibly learn that has any real value? this is the problem with higher education. >> if i were in college and i signed up for this class, my mother would have me by the ear and say i am not paying $75,000 for you to take a course in bracketology. it is almost statistically impossible to pick a bracket perfectly. even if you take this class, you will not do it. melissa: if you have that on your list, you should be banned from working anywhere. >> i hope it has some statistical reasoning behind it but many people would decline to
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put that on their resume.% melissa: you would hope. you would think so. mayor bloomberg proposing a bill that required stars to hide cigarettes because if you don't see them, the addiction goes away. that solves the problem if you don't see them, you are fine. encouraging fewer young people to buy them if they can't see them. is this beyond stupid? >> yesterday i would have said nanny state, nanny state, but i read the article that got me thinking seat belts, we're required to do it, but it has cut down on deaths and health care. there is a reasoning to it, but smokers are going to smoke whether they see it or not. melissa: the problem if it does not restrain your behavior.

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